Yesterday
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: Natsu wakes up with a massive headache and with his limbs entangled with Gray. He has no idea about how he ended up like that. Then, he tries to retrace his steps but things don't end happening the way he expected. Natsu/Gray. Groundhog Day!AU
1. Waking

**A/N:** So, today's Groundhog Day and I thought "what the heck" and so decided to post this story. It's a repost of an oneshot I posted in my Alphabet fic. I haven't had the time to write anything more yet (I've had a busy day and am currently working on another installment of my Abracadabra fic ^^') but hopefully there will be a continuation soon. :D

In the meanwhile, enjoy.

This story's still unbetaed.

Feedback's always appreciated.

* * *

 **Yesterday**

Chapter One - Waking

Natsu woke up and he was curling around a body, while the other body was, in turn, also curled around his. He let out a noise before cuddling further before his brain woke up and he realized what he was doing.

Blindly he untangled from the other person and jumped from the bed, his legs becoming tangled in the bedsheet and him landing on his ass on the floor.

It was Gray.

But Natsu didn't remember how he ended up _in bed_ with Gray. A sudden pain lanced through his head and he cupped his forehead with his hand, closing his eyes and groaning.

Gray made a noise and that was when Natsu knew that he had to leave. _What the hell was I doing there with ice breath?_ He asked himself, sluggishly standing and putting on his clothes. He didn't notice how his scarf was balled and shoved inside one of his trousers' pockets. At the moment he only thought about leaving.

Stomping out of the house, a fuming, yet with a massive headache, Natsu headed towards the guild. There he might get some answers and relief.

As soon as he entered, a too perky Lucy suddenly sprouted from his side.

And where the fuck was Happy?

"God morning, Natsu." She said brightly.

"Mhph." Natsu squinted at her before heading to grab something to eat and drink.

"My, you sure seem like you had a _big_ night…" She continued, giggling.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu mustered all the energy he could to throw a glare at her. But the blonde kept on, undeterred.

"Well, after the kiss, you and Gray suddenly disappeared. We all wondered what might have happened." She waggled her eyebrows.

"You're a big perv'. I don't have a clue about what you're going on about." Natsu frowned at the mug filled with water that sat in front of him. Then paused and looked at Lucy. "Wait. Kiss?"

"Hell yeah." The celestial mage answered, a predatory grin on her lips and then her expression smoothing into a dreamy one. "You were both arguing on top of that table," she waved in the direction of one of the tables, "and all of a sudden you cupped his face and kissed him. Was it the alcohol, I wonder…?"

"Alcohol? W-wait-! I started-?" Natsu couldn't help himself and stutter.

"Hell yeah. It was the kiss of the century. You could light a room on fire with that intensity."

"So, we were drunk?" Natsu tried to put the pieces together.

"I don't know about drunk. Tipy, for sure." Lucy replied airily. "It was truly hot… poor Juvia, she started crying a river when Gray was fighting for dominance… we thought that we were going to drown here, until someone opened the doors and let the water out. When we looked back, you two were gone."

"What happened next?" Natsu asked.

"How should I know?" Lucy asked, in outrage. "You were gone. But you two gave me some ideas…" the blonde mage ended in a sing-song voice, wagging a finger at him.

"Wha-? No!" Natsu stood up from his chair and shouted. Then he flinched and leaned on the table. "Don't."

"Too laaate…" Lucy teased.

The fire mage groaned in frustration and turned around, he needed to go to the infirmary to see if there was something he could use for his headache.

As he walked on the dimly lit corridor, flashes suddenly started to appear in his mind.

 _Hands running over his body at the same time that his own explored a hard body. A slick tongue fighting with his. A voice saying filthy things in his ear. Warmth. Slickness. Feeling right. The warmth of limbs twining with his. Breathing slowing, as well as heartbeat, now going in synch with another._

Natsu leaned against the cool wall, gasping in astonishment at what he had just thought.

What had happened yesterday?

"I need to get something to be able to think." He told himself, being quite fed up with the cotton that seemed to have stuffed his brain.

He stumbled into the infirmary and, since there wasn't anyone in there, he started rummaging for something for him to take. He ended up taking a vial he remembered taking once, read the label and took a few glugs from it. However, the green-blue liquid didn't have the sweet taste he expected.

"Shit."

He fell and, in the distance, could hear a clunk of something before rolling off.

* * *

Natsu woke up, feeling warm and comfortable, his body curling against another. The Salamander seemed to imagine himself dreaming, the sense of déjà vu firmly setting on his conscience. Before snuggling a bit further, Natsu's eyes opened.

 _Déjà vu?_

Sure enough, as Natsu sat up, Gray mumbled something and curled into the pillow.

 _What the-!_

Natsu shot up from the bed and fell on his ass on the floor, legs tangled in the bedsheets.

 _But… didn't this happen yesterday?_

Natsu's head started pounding and he wasn't seeing straight. Natsu hurriedly grabbed his clothes, not minding the heaviness coming from his pocket, the one which had his scarf shoved into it, and left the other's house in a quick stride.

"What the fuck?" He said out loud as he leaned against the sturdy wooden door. He got a few glances from passer byes for speaking to himself but no-one paid him any mind. The fire mage started walking, this time he headed towards the river and, possibly the marketplace. There was an apothecary along the way, they would take care of his problem.

Unfortunately, as he was walking down the street, Erza saw him. The red-haired mage walked towards him with a tiny smirk that didn't leave Natsu at ease, not one bit.

"Good morning." She said.

"'Mornin'…" he said suspiciously.

"It's surprising to see you here so early. Where's Gray?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The Salamander replied grumpily. "I'm not his keeper, am I?"

"Hmmm…" Erza said, and that amount of thought she seemed to be having, didn't bode well for Natsu. "I can't say anything for sure but, after yesterday's show… That was a bit over the top, even for you. Besides, the mission wasn't anything that needed such celebration."

Natsu's face became red as a tomato.

"I didn't do anything." He said haltingly.

"I wouldn't call that kiss _nothing_." Erza said with a giggle. "You boys sure went over the top."

"Did not!" Natsu whined. Would this nightmare not end?

"Hahaha," Erza had the gall to laugh in his face. Something quite unexpected but maybe it was a reaction to the weird spell that seemed to have taken over everyone? "Well, I got in your way. Where were you going? The apothecary for something for your head? I can bet you're having a splitting headache-"

Erza's tirade was interrupted by a lot of noise coming from the marketplace. People were running, in panic, from something that seemed to be happening there.

"What the hell is that?" Erza muttered.

"Dunno but maybe we should check." Natsu said, taking a few gulps of air, willing his headache away and the emptiness from his stomach.

"Agreed. Let's go." The whole 'big sister teasing' act disappeared as Erza started walking towards the marketplace, Natsu hurrying after her.

A group with seven dark mages was creating havoc in the market. They relished in the destruction and were teasing each other, seeing who could do worse.

Natsu and Erza exchanged a look and then attacked. They did quick work of most of the mages – they were weak anyway – but the last one seemed to be a bit trickier.

"Be careful, we can't destroy things all that much." Erza admonished after Natsu crashed into a wall and it crumbled into the fire mage.

"Yeah, yeah. I remember the old man's rant." Natsu mumbled. He was feeling quite off, his balance apparently affected for some unknown reason, and his head still pounding.

This exchange seemingly was the opening that their foe needed to attack. He was much stronger than expected for underneath their feet large purple discs appeared before translucent layers of a flimsy substance rose to tie themselves together above their heads before a strange gas was released.

Despite holding his breath, Natsu saw Erza collapsing before he, himself, blacked out.

* * *

As Natsu came to, firstly, he took a breath. Since it came easily, he allowed himself back to a vigilant state. He wasn't awake nor asleep, hanging somewhere in-between.

The comfortable bed he was lying on, the body he was curled into moved slightly when Natsu's arm moved. And then, the in-between state Natsu was in, shattered to a thousand pieces.

The fire mage shot up to sit in bed, opened his eyes and looked franticly around.

"Shit. Not again." He all but yelled before slapping his forehead. He let out a pained groan after, berating himself for worsening the pounding in his head. And then Gray mumbled something and started turning around towards Natsu.

He was waking up.

 _Oh fuck…_


	2. Stalling

Chapter 2 - Stalling

Natsu stood still, holding his breath so as not to disturb Gray into awareness. He wasn't ready to face Gray.

There was something that, oddly, made him panic.

Through his mind a mantra of ' _ohshitohfuckdon'twakeupdon'twakeupdon'twakeupfuckfuckfuck_ ' was running at light speed.

The lack of air was making his lungs burn – a very unpleasant feeling – but he almost didn't dare to let it whoosh out.

Gray moved a little, snuggling into Natsu's legs, mumbling something, now it was more discernible but still too low to understand, before curling one arm around Natsu's leg. That made him frown – and Natsu panic – and soon enough Gray was starting to blink hazily.

The fire mage was leaning back, wondering if he might manage to slip his leg from the other's embrace and make a run for it. The mantra was still running through his mind and, alongside with the pounding in it, was very unpleasant.

Gray rolled to lay on his back, yawning and stretching.

He seemed to realize that he was accompanied and so he mumbled a rough, "Good m'rning."

Natsu gulped.

"'Morning…" his said in a low register.

"Ah. You're still here?" Gray asked, oddly, before recoiling from his voice. "Shit, my head." He muttered, one hand coming to cradle his forehead.

 _Been there, done that_. Natsu couldn't help but note with irony.

"Yeah…" Natsu said hesitantly. "Huh, Gray…?"

"Ahh, I can't believe how much we drank last night after the mission. That was some party."

"Nobody parties like our guild." Natsu couldn't help but add. "But…"

"It was a weird mission so…" Gray was about to say something more, he was looking straight at Natsu but then, suddenly a loud noise and the shaking of the ground had both mages startling.

"What the fuck was that?" Natsu yelled and both of them reacted with a pained noise.

"It's coming from the outside." Gray answered and both mages were attempting to untangle themselves from the bedsheets and trying not to stumble into each other as they did their best to throw their trousers on at least before running to the door.

Outside, everything was in disarray.

There were people running in every direction. Panic was nearly palpable in the air.

Loud noises rose above the racket that had been created. Smoke was covering the air alongside clouds of dust.

It came from the guild's whereabouts but it didn't seem like anybody from there had jumped into action _yet_.

"What the fuck is this?" They asked each other, mildly without reaction. But then something snapped and they pelted away towards the guild.

There was fighting going on already. A huge commotion going on the guild's surrounding area.

A figure was towering over the buildings and the battlefield.

Upon a quick scan over the area, it was possible to see that there were no townspeople in the middle of the fray.

The huge figure seemed to have noticed them, the face turning towards the boys and a killing intent coming in waves off the figure.

A shiver ran down Natsu's spine and he turned around, the cold feeling of being caught in a trap washing over him.

Sure enough, a hooded and cloaked figure was standing leisurely behind them.

"What the-!" The fire mage could hear Gray say, a string of swears following.

"My, that's quite a mouth you have in there, laddie." The voice seemed to make a strange echo.

"Who are you?" Natsu asked, already steadying himself into an attacking stance. He got slightly off balance due to the scarf that was stuffed inside his trousers' pocket.

"No-one." The hooded figure jumped over Gray, its body becoming translucent while traversing the ice mage. "Just someone who's looking for something."

Natsu frowned. Uncomprehending.

"The fuck do you mean?" Natsu asked, eyes widening as Gray slumped into the ground, unconscious. Unconsciously fire lit up around his fists.

"Ah. It's you." The other said, the hollow voice confusing Natsu.

"Huh?" Was all Natsu was able to say before the hooded figure started to walk towards him.

At that time a large rock fell right beside Natsu, followed by a ground shaking _boom_.

The fire mage's attention momentarily focused on the boulder and when he focused back on where the spectre was, it was gone.

"Shit." He cursed, a sudden chill making him duck. He rolled and, as expected, was staring at the frayed bottom of the spectre's cloak. Natsu looked up and punched, the other figure jumping back and distancing itself from the fire.

Natsu suddenly felt as if he were carrying an enormous weight on his shoulders.

It was a very odd feeling.

And he didn't like it one bit.

As soon as he was preparing himself to attack once again, Natsu felt a sudden impact on the left side of his neck. His hand automatically went to it and when he brought his fingers back, they were tinged with blood.

A strange burning – an unusual and deeply unsettling burning – started to spread through him, flowing through his veins and scorching his insides.

It hurt.

It hurt _so much_.

Before he knew it, Natsu was crumbling to the ground, blackness taking away the world.

* * *

The warmth of somebody's embrace seeped into Natsu. It was a complete difference towards the last thing he remembered, the burning inside him had Natsu's awareness surface much quicker. But the arm thrown around him warded that awareness off, a shield against the wisps of pain that still clung to him.

So, in this way, Natsu allowed himself to bask in the calm.

In his half-awake, half-asleep state Natsu dreamt.

 _He was breathing harshly against a mouth, their lips were moving, both while speaking and kissing. He knew that the hard body before him, there was a familiarity while touching the planes of muscle. He wondered about it. Natsu scratched his blunt nails on the other's shoulder and arm and for that got a sharp bite against his collarbone. The surge of need that ran through him was unexpected yet unsurprising. Their clothing was being shed carelessly behind them and they stumbled into a room, unwilling to let go of the other._

 _There were words. A familiar exchange that this time was tinged with innuendos. Though subtlety wasn't included. They laughed, kissed some more and then fell into a plush surface, bouncing a little as they rolled around, seeing who would come out victorious. And on top._

 _In the end, they were laying on their sides, Natsu's hand curled around the other and the other hand moving deliciously on him. He was getting close, Natsu could feel it._

 _He was…_

Natsu sat up on the bed, suddenly. He looked to his side, Gray still deeply under sleep's veil.

It was odd. And a little unnerving. But Natsu had to do it.

He gulped, took a deep breath and then, placed his hand on Gray's shoulder – the one he'd scratched, he noticed – and shook.

"Gray. Heh, Gray, wake up." He nearly shouted.

Then he caught himself.

Gray wasn't really a morning person and waking him so suddenly probably wouldn't do much to improve his mood.

Not that Natsu's mood was much better. The pounding from his head as well as the wisps of pain that still, stubbornly, clung to him were making him quite grouchy.

Gray seemed to start to come to. He smacked his lips a few times, conjuring noiseless words as his eyes opened the smallest slit.

Gray rolled to lay on his side and let out a yawn at the same time that he stretched.

Then he noticed that he'd been awakened and so uttered a rough, "Good m'rning."

Natsu grimaced at the déjà vu.

"Morning…" he said in a low voice.

"Ah. You're still here?" Gray asked, but then letting a pained noise as his voice sounded too loud. "Shit, my head." He muttered, one hand rising to his forehead.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Natsu sighed. Then he looked seriously at the ice mage. "Gray, something really weird is happening. I… I think that it might have something to do with something that happened yesterday…"

"Uh, what could that be?" Gray asked, not yet completely awake.

"Like hell would I know!" Natsu shouted.

They both recoiled from the volume.

"Okay, fine." Gray waved him off.

"And, huh, I wanted to ask you." Natsu started fidgeting a little. "How did…?"

"Hm?" Gray let out another yawn and sat on the edge of the bed, readying himself to stand. "Oh, where did my clothes go?" he mused out loud.

Natsu covered his face with his hands.

Gray stood and started walking around the room in his favoured state, completely naked. He was grabbing things to wear.

"Oh yeah." He said suddenly, looking at Natsu. "And you're the one who started it yesterday."

"What!" Natsu squeaked out.

"You know it." Gray said with a shrug. "I guess that when they bring out the good stuff you can't handle it. Fire mage my ass."

"Oi! If I remember correctly you weren't all too well either." Natsu started shouting but quickly adjusted his voice to an irate hiss.

"Whatever makes you feel better..." Gray said with a smirk.

Natsu huffed and stomped out of the room, grabbing his clothes too and putting them on.

"Move your ass and go to the guild." He said in a slightly louder tone, distractedly making sure to tuck the scarf better into the pocket. He left the house with a few more stomps, making sure to slam the door. It might have made his head hurt a bit but so did Gray's and it was worth it.

He walked quickly to the guild, needing to find something for the headache and, as expected, the first person he met was Lucy.

She was too perky and made sure to walk beside him.

"Good morning, Natsu." Her smile was so bright that Natsu nearly had to cover his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I need to talk to you, Erza and Gray about yesterday's mission." Natsu headed towards the food and drink. His stomach was still a bottomless pit.

"My, you sure seem like you had a _big_ night…" She started, with a sly expression. Then it shifted to confused. "Wait. Yesterday's mission? Why?"

"I just do. Could you go look for Erza? I know that Gray'll appear in no time."

Lucy's expression for a too quick moment got evil but then eased down into teasing and slightly perverted.

"Fine. I'll return in no time." She said, turning on her heel and heading to the door.

Natsu breathed out in relief. He was finally going to have a few instants for himself. And breakfast. But then a thought returned to him.

Where was Happy?

* * *

When they were all sitting at the table, with their breakfast mostly eaten, Natsu leaned back and eyed his friends.

It was time.

"Guys, I have something to tell you."

They all looked at him with expectant expressions.

"What's going on?" Lucy finally asked.

"I'm reliving the day." He said.

A heavy silence fell on the table, the others looking at the fire mage with confused expressions.

"What?" Gray said in astonishment.

 _Yep, it was going as well as expected..._

* * *

 **A/N:** Yay, another chapter. Sorry for taking so long to get this one out.

Hopefully it was interesting anyway.

And let's see if the story ends on the next chapter...

Unbetaed.

Anyway, any thoughts? Feedback's always nice.


	3. Expectation

Chapter 3 - Expectation

Natsu gulped.

It wasn't his fault that whatever this wacky thing that was happening was. He wasn't to blame. Right?

The fire mage gulped again as he looked at his friends' faces. They denoted disbelief which, to be fair, Natsu probably wouldn't hold against them. It was quite a difficult thing to wrap their heads around.

And then, Lucy spoke.

"Natsu. Are you feeling alright?" the blonde mage asked, leaning forward, eyebrow arching up.

"Yeah, that doesn't make much sense." Erza added shaking her head slightly.

"You're probably not composed after all that alcohol from last night." Lucy continued, eyes sizing up the fire mage.

Through it all, Gray had just uttered his first question and had remained silent. Confusion etched in his face.

"No. Guys, I'm being serious here." Natsu said with uncharacteristic seriousness. He let out a sigh and slumped back on his chair. "I knew that this was going to be a bad idea. But, it's true." When he was met with silence, he continued. "Besides, something strange is going on here. I know that we had a mission yesterday yet I don't remember it."

The others were about to rebuke his words but suddenly Natsu saw them freeze momentarily and then jolt up in their seats. A startled expression fluttering into all of their faces.

 _What the-?_ Natsu wondered before their expressions became more relaxed, eyes focusing back on him.

"Oh. You're right." Erza said, surprised, frowning down at the wooden table.

"How strange. How can this be?" Lucy added, looking at all of her friends.

"Do you think…" Gray started saying, eyeing Natsu with a strange look. "Do you think that that the mission has something to do with the mission restarting?" his gaze seemed to sharpen over Natsu. So much so that Natsu could almost feel the biting cut of it on his skin.

"I don't know." The fire mage answered sincerely. "But I think that those things are connected. Something in my gut tells me so." _And where in the world is Happy?_ The thought fluttered through his mind briefly.

"So that means that we have to go back to… where was our mission, again?" Lucy asked while she pushed back some hairs that had fallen to the front of her eyes.

"It was a temple. That temple on the forest, do you remember?" Erza added, she had her eyes closed and was massaging her forehead, as if to ease off some pain.

"Ah, you're right. There was that odd track." Natsu said as he nodded eagerly.

"Yes, it was as if the way had been open for us, right in the middle of the forest." Gray added pensively.

"I guess that if we want to solve this mystery we'll have to go there and check that place." Erza said with finality.

"Yosh!" the others said simultaneously.

They got up and headed towards the door.

Natsu was walking last as he was noticing a strange heaviness that seemed to be weighing him down.

 _What's this?_ He wondered. But he shrugged it off and hurried to catch up with his friends.

As soon as they were out the door, they had company waiting for them.

Seemingly, there was a semi-circle of people that seemed to be shrouded in darkness waiting for them, evil intent coming off them in waves.

The team stopped, and got prepared to fight, feeling confused.

Finally, there was a commotion in the few individuals that stood before them and then that hooded spectre was emerging from the darkness.

"Fancy meeting you here…" it said in the same odd, cavernous voice.

Natsu felt a chill and knew for certain that it was talking to him.

"Well then, let's get this over with, for once and for all." It said before disappearing and appearing besides Natsu.

The fire mage only had time to jump behind, grimacing at the blade that was piercing his leg. It started bleeding but his blood was appearing to be a mix between red and grey. Natsu's head swam, his stomach turned and he felt like throwing up. Gritting his teeth, he took the blade away and then his hands became surrounded by flames which he directed at his leg, working to stop the blood flow.

 _Shit, that thing was poisoned or what?_ He asked himself, his head back to pounding with a vengeance. Then he noticed the books that appeared in his range of vision and looked up. Natsu tried to straighten himself up but before he could do anything, he was kicked to the side. He fell on the ground, limbs starting to shake and he felt a strange bump under his thigh. Before he could do anything else, darkness surrounded him and he fell.

* * *

 _They'd finally reached the temple. There were just a few steps to go for them to enter the precinct._

 _Everything was strangely silent. Sure, there were the natural noises of the forest such as birds singing, the rustling of trees and of the random animal doing their thing. However, inside the temple, it was as if there was no-one._

 _The team had quieted down, the closer they'd got to the temple. The high walls in grey stone, with the odd wooden top peeking from within, seemed to push away the liveliness. It was a strange feeling and, the closer they got, the thicker the air around the temple seemed to be._

 _As they climbed the nine steps carved on the stone to reach the gate, the gate suddenly swung inside, almost as if a clear invitation for them to get inside._

 _"_ _That… was weird." Erza mumbled, as she was on standing in the front._

 _"_ _Natsu. That was strange, aye?" Happy murmured into the dragonslayer's ear, he had landed on his shoulder and was kind of sitting there. His fur was starting to stand on end._

 _"_ _Very strange." Natsu agreed, he was slowly looking around._

 _"_ _Should we get in?" Lucy wondered._

 _"_ _I think we do." Gray stated, also taking a look around._

 _Everyone was feeling discomfited though, apparently, it was just a large courtyard, the floor covered in square slabs of stone, that was surrounded by the actual building of the temple._

 _"_ _Well then, let's go." Erza said as she squared her shoulders and walked in. unconsciously all of the others followed her lead, squaring their shoulders also before stepping inside._

 _Natsu was the last one to enter._

 _It felt as if he'd come across a cushion of pressured air, one that eased as soon as Natsu was fully inside. He felt a tightness in his skin in one moment, which disappeared on the next one leaving a tingling feeling behind._

 _There was a path towards the main doors of the temple and the others were walking towards it, flanked by while rectangular stones. Natsu looked down and noticed small, strange indentations in their surfaces._

 _So distracted looking down to the path was Natsu that his eye caught a sudden shine. Natsu glanced at his friends, he was just two steps behind them so it wouldn't take much to check what that shine might be._

 _The fire mage knelt down and extended his hand. Covering whatever it was. His hand curled around the object in question._

 _"_ _What's wrong Natsu?" Happy asked from where he was hovering above the fire mage._

 _"_ _I dunno." The pink haired mage said as he stood. He uncurled his fingers and within, there was a small ball in a creamy milk colour. It was polished, so much that when the sun hit it, the shine returned, now more intense than before._

 _"_ _Is that a precious stone?" Happy queried._

 _"_ _I have no clue." Natsu said with a snort. "But this does look fragile. Ah, I know. I'll wrap it in my scarf and put it on my pocket for later. What do you think?" he asked as he was pulling out his scarf and folding it, the ball carefully placed inside it._

 _"_ _That's a great idea, aye!" Happy answered joyously._

 _"_ _Done." Natsu said as he patted the pocket, one edge of the scarf slipping from it. "Now let's go get the others." He said, striding towards where the others were by the temple's door._

* * *

Natsu found himself back into that comfortable embrace. It was warm, it had a strange tenderness that spoke to him, it made Natsu want to burrow into it and not care about the world outside.

Natsu cuddled further, the other body's welcoming arms felt protective and that was when Natsu's brain became fully awake and he shot up. Sitting in bed, the first thing Natsu did was cradle his head and moan due to the pain.

He blinked his eyes, feeling somewhat lethargic and then his attention shot down to his leg. That blade had pierced him. And for one moment the pain flared but it was so brief and diffuse that Natsu brushed it off. Because, yes, he'd come back to the beginning.

"Shit." He mumbled. "Now I have to do everything all over again." He fell back down onto the mattress, a pained groan leaving his throat.

To his side, Gray mumbled something, Natsu took it as a sign that he was coming to himself. Or, maybe not, Natsu thought as the other just smacked his lips a few times before curling slightly into himself.

"Gray. Heh, Gray, you have to wake up." Natsu had rolled to his side and had his hand curled around the ice mage's shoulder. He was shaking him, unmindful of their position.

Finally, Gray squinted his eyes open. He wrinkled his nose in a cute way and his eyes opened further. He let out a yawn before rolling to the side, laying on his back and letting out a grumble.

"What do you want?" he asked, which was followed by a pained noise. "What the hell? My head!" he cradled his head, then rolled back to his side to glare at Natsu.

"Yeah, I know. Mine's killing me but we have more important things to-" Natsu stopped himself as he noticed something. His nose was nearly touching Gray's, they were almost breathing the same air. It was quite intimate.

Warning bells sounded on the fire mage's head and he sat up so fast that he slipped and fell to the floor.

A string of curses coming from him was followed by an amused chuckle from Gray.

"Shut up, asshole." Natsu whined, his hand still in his head. "Fuck, now my ass hurts."

"Well, if you want I know of a way for it to hurt differently." Gray said in a suggestive tone. "Maybe you want to end what we began last night?"

"Shut up, you pervert." Natsu grumbled as he straightened and knelt on the mattress. "Like I was saying…" he said, throwing a pointed stare at Gray, "We have some important things to do before, well, before it."

"What's it? You're not making any sense." Gray complained.

"Doesn't matter. Put some clothes on and go grab Lucy. She's at the guild. I'll go grab Erza." He said, shooting up from the bed and hurrying towards his discarded clothes. He put on the trousers, a brief thought running through his head at the heaviness that wasn't supposed to be in his pocket but he quickly discarded it. He had other things to worry about.

"Hey, where are we supposed to meet, then?" he heard Gray say from behind, as he rushed towards the door.

"The exit near the forest. Hurry!" He yelled back, recoiling at his tone of voice, cursing under his breath as he went towards the market.

* * *

They met not long after, the other three looking suspiciously at Natsu.

"Can you tell us what's so urgent that we have to rush here?" Gray asked.

"I'll tell you along the way. Now we kind of need to hurry towards the temple." Natsu said, striding ahead on the path.

"Wait, temple?" Lucy asked.

"Yesterday's mission?" Natsu said, turning his head to look at her. The air of seriousness coming off him.

"Huh, ah, the mission." Erza said in a distracted tone of voice.

A chill went down Natsu's spine and he noticed that there was a darkness ahead of the path. The darkness became corporeal and the hooded spectre stood before them.

"Shit. So it seems like I'll have to postpone that…" Natsu said as he stopped, his friends stopping too at his back.

* * *

 **A/N** : Yay, time for another chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update. OTL Real life got in the way. -.-'

Anyways, I'd like to thank Ryuu91 for the brainstorming and the kick to my butt for me to write. xD Anyway, hope you like it. ^^

Unbetaed, as usual. ^^'

Feedback's welcomed, though, as usual. :D


	4. Recognition

Chapter 4 - Recognition

Natsu woke up slowly. There was a sharp pain in his arm, one that ran from the tips of his fingers and towards his shoulder. The shoulder was throbbing and Natsu had flashes of agonizing pain and of seeing his arm laying on the dusty ground. The phantom feeling had the fire mage awareness crash over him, as if it were a bucket of cold water.

Natsu gasped, his body locking momentarily and he stretched up, his lips brushing against a pair of slightly chapped ones. The Salamander's eyes widened as he took in his bearings once again.

He was, unexpectedly, in Gray's bedroom. In Gray's bed. And, more, he was cuddling Gray. The fire mage could feel his cheeks become hot, nearly to flaming points but then the headache hit and his fluster receded slightly.

 _Shit. Again._ He let his head fall and his forehead was resting against the other's chin. It was an awkward position but Natsu wasn't paying it any mind. _Not that it came as a surprise but… what the fuck?_ He groaned, the throbbing in his head making being awake all that much worse. _I thought I had it this time. That damn thing._ Natsu closed his eyes and his eyebrows knit up. _And now this, fucking kiss. What are you doing Gray?_ He opened one eye and tilted his head so that he could glare at the sleeping ice mage. _Why isn't this off?_

Slowly, Natsu let out a grumble and started to disentangle himself from Gray but that proved to be slightly more complicated than he expected. And then he _brushed_ against Gray's leg. Natsu bit down a colourful curse that wanted to come out as he came to himself fully and became aware of their positioning. Because his very erect dick was resting against Gray's leg. And any movement that he managed to do would only end up with him humping the other's leg. Not that he could move all that far away since one of Gray's arms had snuck over his waist and was like lead, more, as Natsu tried to escape, the grip the slumbering ice mage had on Natsu seemed to tighten.

Still, Natsu attempted to scoot back – to no avail. But Gray took that opportunity to drag him closer and the friction was doing things to Natsu and he was leaking.

 _Shit, shit, shit. Get yourself together. Not that this is anything shameful or anything._ He was chastising himself mentally.

"Mmmmghphh." Gray's unintelligible mumble suddenly cut through Natsu's internal freak out.

The fire mage held his breath, laying stock-still.

 _Aw, come on. You're not going to wake up now, asshole._ Natsu yelled internally. _You can't!_

Unfortunately for Natsu, Gray seemed to be coming to. And he didn't know what to tell him about their current compromising position. Besides, the current headache was not helping things in the least.

"Don't wake up, don't wake up." He mumbled against the smooth skin of Gray's collarbone.

Gray was still mostly asleep as he moved, adjusting his position a bit, and Natsu nearly yelped. Gray's erection had rubbed against Natsu's. And that made the fire mage's flush return tenfold because, he wasn't expecting it. And at the same time, there were some echoes of pleasure and familiarity in the far distance. Besides, Natsu would never admit that whatever was going on felt right. _What the fuck?_ Natsu asked himself once more.

When the fire mage looked up, he noticed that Gray's eyes were open, just the barest slit. And his wakefulness made things all the worst.

"'Morning." He said in a sleep-roughened voice. And then he dropped the bomb. "Do you need any help with that?"

"W-what!" Natsu said loudly and then they were both grabbing their heads at the pain.

"Shit, my head." Gray muttered before glancing back at Natsu. "But, do you?"

"Do I what?" Natsu asked flabbergasted.

"We can do a repeat of last night. You already have a bit of a start on things." Gray replied easily, yawning. The arm that had previously been thrown over Natsu's side was slid between them and Gray curled his hand lightly around Natsu's erection.

"But… last night…" Natsu started, embarrassed.

"We didn't do anything much. Besides, you gave as much as you got." Gray's hand started a slow rhythm stroking Natsu's erection.

"Shut up! And they say that I don't think before speaking! They haven't met you yet. Pervert." Natsu mumbled, closing his eyes so that he didn't have to see Gray's amused smile.

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm not a pervert. Dumbass."

"You get naked in public spaces. Isn't that what a pervert does?" Natsu queried in mock-innocence.

"Shut up." Gray grumbled. "Anyway, let's do this. Together, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay." Natsu agreed. _How did I go from a kiss to this?_ He wondered. Though, on the other hand, Natsu was quite curious. As he held Gray's dick a strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. And he decided that it was okay to continue.

#

Natsu rolled to his back, cleaning his hand on the bedsheet and he let out a breath. A mix of awe and surprise coursing through him.

 _Oh, wow._ He thought, unmindful of the fluid that slid down his side and to the bed. _This really happened. Wow._

"Well, that was a nice repeat." He heard Gray mumble on his side. Natsu turned his head towards Gray who was still lying on his side. He was smiling languidly. "If it weren't this headache…"

"Gray!" Natsu yelled as he sat up with a jump, but whining to himself as he pressed a hand to his forehead. "Fucking headache." Natsu mumbled before straightening up and looking at Gray. His cheeks instantly became dark pink. "Fuck. Do you know what we just did?"

"Yes…?" Gray sat up slowly, tilting his head slightly to his side. "What's your point?"

"We… this… what the fuck?" was the incongruent answer.

"Huh…" Gray's languor immediately evaporated and he looked at Natsu uncertainly. "Were you more wasted than you appeared? Because we talked about this last night. Don't you remember?"

"No! I... I don't think I do?" Natsu looked down at the white linens. His blush had become fiercely red. _Even if it's familiar and feels right._ He thought.

"Well, that's not so good…" Gray started saying but paused as he saw Natsu standing and cleaning himself in the bedsheet before starting to grab his clothes. "Oi, what are you doing?"

"Leaving. Go get Lucy at the guild. I'll meet you at the exit towards the forest." Natsu put on his trousers, noticing the weight in his pocket. Distractedly, he flicked his scarf before striding out of the room. He stopped by the bathroom and swiped out the gross that was stuck to his skin and then headed towards the door. He froze momentarily as he saw Gray standing by his bedroom door, arms crossed and a thunderous expression on his face.

"What do you think you're doing?" The ice mage started. "You can't just up and leave."

"Like hell, I can't." Natsu retorted, averting his eyes from Gray.

"Natsu. We need to talk…"

"Later!" Natsu cut in, quickly. "I really need to go get Erza. Seriously, I'll explain everything when we're all together. Now, get dressed and let's go."

"Don't think that you're going to get away with running." Gray threatened. "I'll catch you later and we'll have our conversation."

Natsu left the house then, slamming the door. He leaned against it and let out his breath.

 _Yeah… I don't think so._ He thought ruefully.

* * *

As the team got together, Natsu looked at the girls then at Gray and then back at the girls. He turned on his heel and started walking down the irregular path.

The girls had instantly noticed the awkward air that was going between him and Gray.

It was not going to be fun.

"Hey, Natsu. Care to tell us why we're, well, doing this?" Lucy finally asked, after a heavy silence.

"We need to hurry to get to the temple." He answered curtly.

"The one from the mission, yesterday?" Erza asked, confusedly.

"Huh, yeah. That one. Though the mission wasn't yesterday." The fire mage said seriously.

"What do you mean with that?" Lucy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Gray said at the same time.

Natsu stopped. He inhaled deeply and then let it all out.

 _Here we go again._

"I've been reliving the same day." He started. And then told them everything.

* * *

 _The space inside the temple was immense. It was all covered by wood panels, the various brown tones of the wood only being cut by the odd rice paper panel, which had bright colours in whimsical drawings. Besides that, there were the few additions of metal here and there which were accented by the few lights. Inside there was only darkness but the walls seemed to have small sconces that provided the only light inside._

 _Every now and then there would be a strange shimmer but it was only caught by the corner of their eye, disappearing whenever they tried to catch a better look at it._

 _The team went deeper inside the first room, stopping before a set of rice paper doors that seemed to have birds drawn on it, in garish oranges, reds, yellows, blues and greens. The birds seemed to be flying outwards, as if by their flight they would open the doors._

 _Strangely, as they approached that set of doors, they did slide open, leaving the way open to a larger room._

 _As the team stepped inside, they instantly noticed the vast difference between the one they'd been previously in and the new one._

 _The floor was paved in stone, though there was a small rim of wood, smaller than a palm, between the stone floor and the walls. However, it was no ordinary stone nor was it placed in a careless way. For the stones were of black and white polished stone and placed alternately, never being placed adjoined to the same colour. In the middle of the room there was a different type of stone, now of a light-grey tone, which was set in a large circle._

 _As they approached, the team could count that inside the circle, ten hollows were placed in another circle. The ten hollows weren't empty, within the five ones on the left, white spheres were resting, and on the remaining ones on the right, there were black spheres._

 _In the centre of both circles, one made by the stone and another by the spheres, was another hollow. This one was empty. But it had thin lines connecting to each of the other hollows._

 _They stood between the stone edge and the internal circle, looking at the display and, the whole room, basically._

 _The room seemed to be lit from the ceiling, though from where, it wasn't possible to tell._

 _Suddenly, the light flickered and dimmed._

 _Everyone got into fighting stances, on high alert._

 _There was an eerie sound coming from the sides, like the chiming of countless bells, and as light began to brighten again, two large and imposing figures were standing before the team._

 _They were dressed in heavy robes, the heads hidden under hoods; one of the figures was clad in white while the other was in black, they were standing on the opposing sides to the spheres on the floor._

 _And then, they started speaking._

 _"_ _Quem temos diante de nós?" The white one asked._

 _"_ _Aquele que vai passar a prova, o trigram é para ser cumprido." The other one answered._

 _The team shared confused looks. They didn't understand what was being said._

 _"_ _Desde tempos imemoriais que a prova ocorre."_

 _"_ _Só aquele que for merecedor é que vai avançar."_

 _"_ _E depois o destino do tempo decidir."_

 _"_ _Até ao infinito e ao ciclo."_

 _As these words were being pronounced, a silvery light appeared around them, making an eight figure whose centre coincided with the centre of the room, that empty hollow._

 _"_ _As peças já estão no lugar. Vamos a isso." The one in black said, rising their right arm._

 _"_ _Primeiro passo, então." The other seemed to sigh._

 _Black and slick tendrils of darkness escaped from the black robed one's hand, heading right towards the team who, narrowly managed to escape by ducking out of the way right before they touched them._

 _"_ _Ahhh! Natsu!" Happy's squeaky voice cut through the noise sharply._

 _They stared as the black tendrils curled around Happy, tightened and then expanded, creating a cage._

 _Natsu stood and started striding towards Happy, fire sprouting from his hands as he was deadest in freeing Happy._

 _"_ _Stop!" The voice from the white robed one rumbled in the room._

 _"_ _He will be here until the end of the trigram." The other stated, a dark tinge of gleefulness at the edges of their voice._

 _Natsu stopped and turned slightly to look at his friends but all he got from them was confusion._

 _And then, the black figure disappeared suddenly._

 _"_ _What the-?" Natsu started saying before hurrying towards the cage, where he could see that Happy was twitching painfully. Pitiful noises were coming from him._

 _The white-clad figure shrunk towards a size more like theirs and walked until it was before the cage, but behind Natsu._

 _"_ _May I?" Was the simple question._

 _"_ _How can I know that you won't do worse?" Natsu asked suspiciously._

 _"_ _I'm sorry about the whole theatrics but that's how it has to go." They said cryptically. "Now you're in the trial, you have to go until the end."_

 _"_ _What do you mean, trial?" Gray asked, coming to stand on the other side of the figure._

 _"_ _Calm down. I won't do anything. More, I'll help your friend here," they extended their hand and touched the cage, there was a flash and a_ pop _and then Happy was sighing with relief. "See? I don't mean any harm. But you should go now. You have to find the answer to the enigma and time's running out."_

 _"_ _What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked._

 _"_ _Enigma?" Erza said._

 _The white robed figure seemed to shake their head before rising their hand and making a wide swiping motion with it._

 _The team found themselves just outside of the temple, heading back to the guild._

 _"_ _Huh, were we already here?" Lucy asked suddenly._

 _"_ _Maybe?" Erza replied. "I don't know exactly what happened."_

 _"_ _Whatever it was, we did it!" Natsu said optimistically as he stretched up._

 _"_ _But it's weird that we don't remember what happened." Gray countered._

 _"_ _Sheesh, ice brain. Such a worry-wart."_

 _"_ _Who are you calling a worry-wart, fire breath?"_

 _"_ _Boys… please…" Lucy said in a conciliatory tone._

 _They continued bickering on their way back to the guild._

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, this chapter was a bit difficult to write. And I wasn't able to post earlier because, well, I've been a bit busy and then got a bit tired to write. Either way, hope this chapter doesn't suck too much.

Ah, notice that this chapter has a bit of a hole in the place where the boys were doing stuff but it's available on my AO3. Not that the scene is much of anything, actually. ^^'

Unbetaed and written well into the night so pardon the mistakes.

Anyway, as usual, feedback would be nice. Any thoughts on things?

By the way, here's a translation for that scene with Portuguese:

 _"_ _Who do we have before us?" The white one asked._

 _"_ _The one who's going to undergo the trial, the trigram is to be fulfilled." The other one answered._

 _The team shared confused looks. They didn't understand what was being said._

 _"_ _Since immemorial times has this trial happened."_

 _"_ _Only the worthy one will continue."_

 _"_ _And then decide the fate of time."_

 _"_ _Until infinity and the cycle."_

 _As these words were being pronounced, a silvery light appeared around them, making an eight figure whose centre coincided with the centre of the room, that empty hollow._

 _"_ _The pieces have been placed. Let's go." The one in black said, rising their right arm._

 _"_ _First step, then." The other seemed to sigh._


	5. Beginning

Chapter Five - Beginning

In the beginning there was nothing.

Or, like the ancient ones called it, the _néant._

As the first differentiation between good and evil took place, an eternal struggle was set in motion.

As that fight began, a mechanism – that wasn't controlled by either faction – appeared.

The Hourglass appeared, in such a way.

It measured the time between the cycles.

The cycles measured the intervals of time between the trial of the trigram.

Such a thing brought a number of other factors into play.

Actors and marionettes, time and music. That one place. For a certain place had to be chosen, being the centre where everything took place.

There would, then, emerge a door. It appeared and was the point that would open to allow the corporeal manifestation of the dual entities.

This one place was then hidden deep into the forest, connecting the array of different locations, the beckon changing also. Still, it was a place that, with time, became sanctified due to the apparition of the godly beings.

Through time, a temple was built in that place, being protected by heavy wards and different forces.

Not everyone could enter the place. Very few people did, actually.

Only those who heard the calling of fate did.

They would go to join the community that had formed around that place, started by a few initiates, an undercurrent of religiosity led people to protect the place, maintain it and be in a blessed place.

The only other people who set foot inside the place were those who were called to challenge on the trigram.

Even the trigram, the defining matter of the cycles and, therefore, ages had to follow some rules.

As it had, at its core, the ever changing passage of time, of the basic factors, the challengers of the trigram would be called according to a certain order of the core elements.

The failing or winning of the trigram would have a deep impact in the whole world. Deciding the course of the cycle.

If evil won, a too big number of wars and injustice would follow, monsters and bad things happening overall. The gnarly fingers of evil would plunge deep into the land and rob any and all vitality contained, bring the dark clouds closer to the ground and have the air too particle-charged so that not much was needed to spark chaos.

If good won, there would be a peaceful time for most during the following cycle. There would always be forays of evilness, as that is an inherent characteristic of the human being, but they would be somewhat quickly be taken care of. The land would then prosper, become greener, as if a veil of haleness had brushed over everything.

* * *

 _The room seemed to be flickering, the walls seemingly throbbing with the beat of his heart, the rush of blood on his ears._

 _The young man stood just beyond the ring of stone, boot-clad feet still stood on the wooden floor. He was hurt. Quite badly so, blood was oozing from his wounds and dampening his clothes as well as the mud that was clinging to him. He took his first step, foot connecting with the harsh stone and he stumbled away, inside the outer circle formed by the edge and the central circle. His eyes were hidden by a dirty blond fringe, caked with small bits of dirt, dead-looking and still. His legs failed him and he fell to his knees, his right arm extending, his near lifeless hand extending to press against the rectangular plaque that stood in the middle of the circle. The sharp edges of the rectangle cutting into his palm. At that moment, the clear diamond rectangle's insides quickly started filling with a dark mist which spread outward. First it filled the small space between the stone and the diamond, then it slid to the grooves carved in the stone and towards the ten expecting small rectangles, five pearly-white and five of a black onyx colour. In no time they were covered by a dark grey layer which quickly became pitch black._

 _The light of the room dimmed into near darkness. Only the faintest outlines being noticeable._

 _The figure shrouded in darkness started to laugh gleefully._

* * *

 _The room was silent but for the sharp_ drip drip drip _of water on the tiled floor and the ragged breath of the young woman that stood before the stone circle. She was drenched, tired and hurting. Her hand was pressing against her side and there was a pained hitch to both her breath and step._

 _The woman limped towards the centre of the circular formation, unmindful that she was leaving a trail of water behind her. When she reached the hollow in the centre. With a deep breath, bracing herself, she stood before it and extended her hand above it. A purple, tear-shaped amethyst fell from the palm of her hand while, at the same time, water fell from the tips of her fingers._

 _As the stone fell, it settled neatly into the central groove. After a few instants, a white mist formed and started twirling on the inside, making the stone's colour become lighter. The rest of the hollow filled with a pearly-white substance that shot out, on the carved grooves, towards the tear-like stones that were placed in the surrounding circle._

 _All of the ten stones, five white and five black, became coated with a thin white layer, the black stones now becoming of a light grey colour._

 _Time stood still, the woman's breath evening out._

 _And then the figure clad in white and brightness seemed to ooze out an air of smugness._

* * *

Natsu woke up slowly and he let out a sigh as the customary headache made his head ache.

The day was starting once again.

But, he'd been able to make some experiences, in the few repeats that had gone by. He was always at the same starting point but the last few days had had different outcomes.

The beginning was always the same, he would awake twined with Gray. They would talk or something happened and then they would gather the team and head to the temple.

They'd been able to reach the temple one or two times but then the spectre-like figure would get in the way and put a stop to their plan.

That this happened most of the days was quite annoying.

At least, through it all, Natsu had started to really manage his situation with Gray.

True, it was slow going and Natsu felt a bit skittish around the ice mage. They repeated the previous touches, slowly going further with every time. Natsu was starting to accept the new and slightly strange (but so right-feeling) relationship that was growing between them but Gray's nonchalance and acceptance puzzled him.

And, despite everything, Natsu still couldn't remember what had happened in the night before the day started looping.

However, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

He wanted to know how far he could go, how Gray would react if he pushed him.

After a day where he'd decided to not worry about the strange things happening outside and just pretend to have a normal day, he decided that it was time to try.

He and Gray had a long conversation and went to the guild to have breakfast. Natsu still felt the heavy weight of something against his thigh, something that had been shoved into the pocket, but decided not to care. They arrived at the guild without being surprised by the spectre or anything out of the ordinary happening.

Of course that as soon as the pair entered the guild, the reactions of his guildmates were as he imagined, lots of teasing and sly remarks. All of that only managed to sharpen his curiosity and had him finally coming to a decision.

Not having to face the spectre-like figure during that day also helped.

* * *

Natsu started coming to, body relaxed and warm, limbs connecting and intertwining with another body, a strangely protective stance that was reciprocated by the other person. Natsu burrowed further into the warmth before him before his brain really awoke.

He opened his eyes and, as expected, was met with Gray's slumbering face. The ice mage was out cold and Natsu narrowed his eyes, wondering about the best course of action to take. He had been thinking about it so, he wondered if it was the right time to act. At that moment he felt a strange stab of pain behind his eyes, followed by a throbbing at his temples. Natsu felt a strange unease fill him but then he placed his hand against Gray's cheek and saw how the other seemed to want to cuddle further into him, into his warmth. It was slightly unexpected. But felt good. Still, if he were to do something, Gray must awake.

"Gray," he called, his voice coming with a slight gravel at the edges. And then he waited for a reaction. When nothing happened, he did it again. And a few more times.

After he called for him for another number of times, with a hand distractedly running over the ice mage's naked skin, only then did the ice mage start to wake up.

"'Morning." Gray said, all sleepy and warm-sounding. A slight smile curving his mouth.

Natsu answered him with a peck to the lips.

Gray seemed to jolt awake, his interest being easily noticed as it rested against Natsu's leg.

The ice mage answered in kind, tilting his head so that he could brush his lips with Natsu's, his erection sliding against the other's leg. Natsu rolled them so that he was laying on top of Gray, his own erection sliding over the hollow of the ice mage's hip.

"You seem to be quite interested this morning. What's up?" Gray asked, any sign of him having been sleeping having evaporated, as he placed his hands on Natsu's sides, thumbs making small circles against the warm skin.

"I'm just wondering about something." Natsu started saying, a slight uncertainty in his tone.

"Something?" Gray repeated, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah… would you…?" Natsu interrupted himself with a cough.

"Would I what?" Gray repeated once again, now starting to feel a little impatient.

"Would you let me fuck you?" Natsu finally asked, a dark pink tinge colouring his cheeks.

The room became still, as if time had frozen, for a few moments. The silence weighing immensely. And then Gray answered.

"Okay." Gray said.

"Huh?" Natsu said unintelligibly. He was flabbergasted.

"I said okay. Let's do it." Gray rolled his eyes and slapped Natsu on his side.

"Are you sure?" The fire mage was still in shock. He hadn't expected things to go that way.

"Yeah. Why not? But you have to give me a chance to reciprocate." Gray said matter-of-factly.

"Huh. Deal." Natsu agreed promptly. It was only fair, after all. "So, can we do it?" he repeated once again.

"You're not completely awake yet? That's odd, since you love to wake super early and, is it the booze?" Gray was beginning to say, his stance starting to shift from relaxed to alert.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm awake, you ice brain." Natsu grumbled and rolled to the side, facing Gray.

"And you're sure of that…" Gray said, unconvinced. "But what brought this up? Yesterday you were quite eager, I remember but this is a bit different, no?"

Natsu realized, with some clarity and despite the fine mist of the headache that had taken over him, where Gray was coming from. It _was_ a bit odd for them to jump into fucking like this right away, wasn't it? At least to them.

But…

Natsu was on edge.

He had slowly been inching towards more intimacy with Gray – there was something to be said with always waking up cuddling him – both in platonic and sexual ways.

And now they were here and Gray was doubting about his readiness.

"Yes but some time has passed. Things change." Natsu said.

"Since last night?" Gray asked with a chuckle, turning to be facing Natsu.

"Ah, huh, time is time. Now, how do we do this?" Natsu replied dryly, catching himself from the incongruous thing he almost said.

"Do I need to explain you the basics?" The ice mage asked smugly. "Well, the basic mechanics are-"

Natsu slapped his hand over his mouth.

"Dumbass. I know how sex goes." He said with some embarrass.

"That's good to know. Well then, open that drawer," Gray tilted his head towards the bedside table on Natsu's side of the bed. "You can grab the vial with the slick."

Natsu turned and did as ordered, rummaging a bit on the various items – which he had half a mind to wonder at what they were – before his hand curled around a cold flask. He pulled his hand out and inspected his finding. A smallish vial in transparent glass with a golden fluid inside.

"Is this it?" he asked, presenting it to Gray.

"Yup." Gray grabbed the vial and looked at it, a pensive look fluttering on his expression. "How do you want to go with this?"

"That's what I asked." Natsu shot back with a pout.

"Okay, well then, while you think about that, I'll start preparing myself." Gray uncorked the vial and smeared some of the fluid on his hand.

"Ah, right. Want me to do that for-?" Natsu started to ask, extending his hand to grab the vial.

"Nope. You just have to use that tiny and partially melted brain of yours to think on how we're going to do this."

"Who are you calling dumb, ice breath?" Natsu growled, but without fire.

"I wouldn't know…" Gray replied distractedly, expression slightly scrunched up.

"Sheesh, you're in quite a mood, yourself. C'mon, let me try too." Natsu near-whined.

"Fine. Hand." Gray finally conceded, as Natsu eagerly did as he was told. Gray lay on his back and spread his legs. Then he grabbed Natsu's wrist and took it to where Natsu wanted to go. "Don't go all hare-brained or I'll kick you in the face." Gray threatened before arching an eyebrow and looking at Natsu, challengingly.

 **(1)**

Natsu slumped into Gray's embrace, unmindful of the mess between them. He was suddenly feeling tired.

"Okay…" he said after a long while. "That sure was something…"

Gray just ran his hand through the fire mage's pink locks and laughed.

* * *

All in all, Natsu found the experience, a success.

* * *

 **(1)** As usual, the scene has been censored but, fear not, it can be read on my AO3.

 **A/N:** Well fuck. I think I lost the boys somewhere along the way. OTL

First of all, many apologies for, once again, taking a bit longer to update. *sighs* It has been a rough week. And this chapter hasn't been all that easy to write either, jeez. So here are my sincere apologies for the suckiness of it. :(

Anyway, who's ready for the last chapter? (I don't think I am, though... xD)

As usual, this is unbetaed and has been written unreasonably late at night.

But feedback is always appreciated. ^^


	6. Clockwork Journey

Warning: some violence

* * *

Chapter Six – Clockwork Journey

There were a few more repeats where they got closer. Natsu felt like exploring the different side that Gray had been showing him. And then came the day when he decided that it was his turn…

* * *

Slipping into wakefulness came easily to Natsu, with the feeling of being held and in a comfortable and warm place.

Natsu sighed.

Even before opening his eyes he knew he'd steeled his resolve. They would change positions and he'd let Gray fuck him. After all, it couldn't be all that hard – he'd been getting better acquainted with the other's body and now knew how to better respond to him.

Groping half-aimlessly his hand came to rest on Gray's cheek. Natsu opened his eyes and looked at the ice mage, he was still sleeping peacefully, their limbs still entwined and feeling _right_.

He couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his lips.

He'd come to a conclusion. And it was still a bit hard for him to reconcile his self from before the day started repeating and the one he was now. Not that he had to think about that, in the comfortable cocoon they found themselves in.

His hand reaching down to Gray's shoulder, Natsu grasped it and gave a small shake.

He had no reaction.

He shook Gray again, this time calling out his name softly.

The ice mage seemed to react to his voice. Natsu sat up and the movement made him cringe as a sudden, snap-like, ache shot through his head. It was fleeting for Natsu blinked and pain was gone again, leaving the fire mage to his previous endeavour.

"Hey, Gray. Wake up, come on." Natsu repeated, slightly louder.

"Shuddup. Lemme sleep." Gray's voice came slightly muffled by the arm that he'd thrown over his face to block Natsu.

"No. It's already day. Besides, we have a matter to discuss." Natsu pressed.

"What matter?" Gray grumbled, one eye opening to look – if he were more awake it might have passed as a glare – at Natsu.

"What we started last night." Natsu replied in a purposefully light tone.

Those words had an effect on the ice mage. His whole body seemed to go taut before Gray looked at Natsu. He sat up, opened his mouth but no sound left it. He closed it, narrowed his eyes at the fire mage before shaking his head.

"What?" he asked, blinking slowly.

"You heard me. What… what we were doing last night. I… we can continue." Natsu replied, his early sureness becoming rushed as he got more and more flustered.

"You do know that we were probably going to have sex." Gray stated, waiting for confirmation.

"Yes." Natsu rolled his eyes.

"And…"

"Yes! Fucking hell, Gray. Is it that hard of you to understand that I want you to fuck me?" Natsu said in one go, getting tired of Gray's hesitation. "It's fine, you know?"

"But… hm." Gray looked down at his hands, which were poised on his lap. Natsu noticed what they were hiding. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. And don't you think that I haven't noticed how you _like_ that idea." Natsu said with a mischievous grin, leaning forward so that he was standing on all fours, his hand coming to pat Gray's leg. He patted in a slightly dangerous place, making Gray hold his hand and throw him a reproachful look.

"Fine. I like that idea." Gray said, his cheeks burning bright. "But there are some things we need." He cautioned.

"Slick." Natsu promptly said.

"Yes. You can find some in that drawer." Gray motioned with his hand. Natsu did as ordered, once again, remembering very well what happened when he grabbed the vial. Once again he inspected the sloshing golden fluid inside.

"Got it." Natsu handed the vial to Gray. Then he paused. A slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Help me get ready?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

(1)

Gray fell on Natsu's side, a content smile on his lips.

Natsu replied with his own content smile. Before it morphed into a grimace as he took in the coldness of the patch he was lying in.

The fire mage slapped Gray, wordlessly telling him to roll over so that he could get away from the wet place.

They ended up in a mock struggle over the dry area of the bed, limbs entangled and a lot of laughter in the air.

And Natsu… he realized that, with Gray, it didn't matter who topped. It was quite fun either way.

* * *

As yet another repeat of the day went by Natsu decided that he really had to find a way for the repetition to end. Also, there was the problem of knowing where Happy was, as he hadn't seen him, and of the dark-clad figure.

Natsu woke up from the inexistent sleep, the slumber didn't allow for him to properly rest.

He let himself indulge in the comfortable bed, the intimate twine of his limbs in another's as well as the heartbeat and rise and fall of Gray's chest.

But then, he opened his eyes, carefully extracting himself from the other's embrace. Natsu sat up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and cradling his head in his hands as an overwhelming pain seemed to burst from behind his eyes and expand towards the rest of his head.

Natsu took a few deep breaths and straightened up. Slowly, he got up and walked around the room, picking up his clothes and quickly putting his trousers on. He felt the weight of something against his leg and finally decided to go look into it.

He closed the door of the bedroom silently after himself and headed to the sofa, slumping onto it with uncharacteristic tiredness. It wasn't exactly a physical tiredness but, the various repeats of the day were taking a toll in him. Natsu plunged his hand inside the pocked, extracting the scarf and what it was containing. The fire mage placed the scarf on his lap, taking a moment to run his hand through it with a wistful half-smile appearing in his lips.

Then he shook himself out of the trance that almost distracted him. Natsu flicked the bit of folded scarf out of the way and uncovered… a ball. It was on the smallish side, of a light green and a sudden flash of a memory came to him. Of him with Happy and picking the ball up…

Natsu shook his head, slightly out of sorts.

 _What the fuck is this?_ He thought to himself, the ball spinning distractedly in his hands. Natsu leaned back and let the ball roll between his palms, looking up at the ceiling and thinking, trying to remember _anything_ , to have a clue as to what had landed them in this situation.

It all led to the mission.

And that was what they had to do. Go back to that place. Hoping that they weren't stopped by the figure clad in dark – in every time they'd met things had become not so good for the team. They always failed to surpass that obstacle, with very bloody results.

But maybe it would appear. They'd gotten to the temple a few times. Maybe this time it was _it_.

Natsu tossed the ball up, carelessly, grabbing it and placing it once again in his pocket. He put the scarf around his neck, where it belonged, and went back to the bedroom to wake Gray.

They hurried to get ready, then split up (like so many times before) to go find the girls and to meet at the right exit. When they were all together Natsu had to go through the whole thing once more, tell them the whole story and take in their disbelief and give proof as to not having finally gone totally crazy.

The girls made up a bit of a fuss, disbelieving, but Gray was silent for a good part of the way. When they were on the slope that led to the temple Gray curled a hand around Natsu's elbow, making the fire mage pause and look at him.

"What?" he asked, slightly snappishly.

"I just meant to say that I do believe you. Now, let's go and find a way for this day to end." Gray said seriously. His determination etched in his features.

This time was Natsu's turn to stop the ice mage. The dark haired one looked back, confused.

"I just…" Natsu started, fumbling slightly his words. "I know how you feel and I do to…?" he ended with a questioning tone, wondering.

Gray opened his mouth and closed it a few times, surprised.

"Huh, okay… good." He nodded, his dumbfounded expression could be comical, were not this such a serious situation.

"Yeah… good." Natsu repeated.

"Okay, we better go now." Gray turned and started walking to where the girls had stopped, looking at them.

"Yes." Natsu said softly. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

They got inside the temple, following the eerily familiar path, crossing those immense doors and rooms towards that one room. It was almost as if their feet were being guided to that one place.

As soon as they entered, the doors closed heavily behind them. The noise echoed in the sepulchral silence, eerily.

And then an invisible force pushed Natsu back. The fire mage's back hit the sturdy door with such force that his breath was knocked out of him. That same invisible force continued to press against him as before his eyes, his friends were encapsulated by a red light before vanishing into thin air. And then the tiled floor started shaking before a strange haze covered it followed by a nearly deafening rumble and then large walls started rising. The lighting also changed somewhere along the way, from dim to very bright.

The fire mage was released and fell forward, one hand holding himself on his knee as he gasped, while the other came to his eyes to try to shield them a little.

As he caught his breath he faced forward. There was what looked like an entrance, imposing and created in what looked like limpid, thick walls of blue ice.

Suddenly, the ball that was on his pocked seemed to burn against his leg.

From the walls on each side of the entrance two figures emerged suddenly; one shrouded in darkness and the other in light.

"It's time." One said.

"You may begin the trigram." The other continued.

And then, in unison, both extended one hand towards the entrance.

It was clear what Natsu had to do.

The fire mage stepped inside and the entrance was immediately closed, a loud rumbling followed by a muted shhh and when Natsu turned around, he only say ice. But then the ice seemed to be polished until it was a reflective surface, a mirror.

"Great." He said to himself. Then turning on his heel, Natsu took in the three directions he could go in. "Fun. A maze." He said in mild wonder. An interested smile forming on his lips.

Natsu took the path in the middle.

The silence was pressing onto him, as were the countless reflections of himself, following him, copying him, and sometimes trying to grasp him.

Natsu paused and turned around, he'd felt a soft brush against his arm, coming from behind.

But he was alone.

Still. He knew what he'd felt.

And no, it wasn't him beginning to get paranoid due to the sense of urgency, the burning against his leg, the worry about his friends' whereabouts, the stress over the repeating day, the pressing silence.

Something made him trip and Natsu fell to his knees, the force of the impact momentarily making pain spike up and down his legs. The fire mage caught himself when he placed his hands on the ground, looking at it, noticing that at some point he'd started stepping on a mirror too.

When he looked up and stood, he realized that in front of himself it was no longer a self-reflection, no, Lucy seemed to be encased inside of it. Her body had scorch marks, her face in a pained rictus and Natsu didn't think twice, he headed to it, calling to his magic, a flaming fist coming to connect with the glass surface and… nothing.

His hand was easily stopped, the fire magic dispelling instantly and leaving Natsu flabbergasted.

But what wasn't his surprise when Lucy's face changed, twisting and becoming a vicious mask, red colouring her eyes and features becoming super sharp and then she extended her hand and grasped Natsu, pulling him inside the mirror.

It was painful.

Natsu first slipped inside as if he were entering a calm pool but before long, sharp needle-like things – he had no idea about what they might be – started stabbing him, from all directions. Lucy's look-alike was approaching him, jagged hands curling around Natsu's throat and squeezing. Blood started flowing.

Natsu's instinct made him react, despite all the stab-like pinpricks, Natsu swung his arm and hit Lucy. She disappeared and Natsu found himself landing on the hard and smooth surface of the mirror-floor outside.

"Okay…" he panted. "That was something." He groped gently at his neck, fingers coming back tinged in red. "Great. She cut me. Shit."

But, he had to continue and find a way out, deliver the ball and find his friends. So he needed to start moving, instead of dallying somewhere near the beginning.

Natsu stood once again and continued the path. His reflection starting to look strangely at him, he noticed that by the corner of his eye. And it was kind of freaky.

As he continued walking, getting deeper and deeper inside the maze, he had to evade the strange limbs that would sometimes pop out of the mirrored walls and tried to pull him inside. He did a good job evading those limbs but he sometimes would be too slow or be distracted with another obstacle and be pulled inside.

There was one of those times when he crashed onto the inside of the mirror, everything feeling leaden and disjointed, and he watched as his friends were being tortured. Happy had been flayed alive, Erza's body had been burned really badly as whoever did that seemed to have had their fun with heating her armour till it became incandescent, Lucy had been placed inside a strange contraption which had been tightened and cut into her skin in many places as blood was flowing down her body and Gray was fastened onto a table with his chest open while strange looking bars were being inserted in both his arms and legs. Blood was flowing freely, falling to the ground and sublimating until the air was a red haze, the iron tang sticking to one's tongue. Natsu felt like throwing up.

And then suddenly he was falling on his ass, outside of that awful tableau, the air still tasting of blood, the cut on his forehead that still oozed sluggishly going unnoticed.

The burn he felt against his leg urged him to get up and continue, to find his way out as soon as possible.

He just _had_ to _find_ his friends.

* * *

Natsu managed to stumble from the maze's exit, having punched that last damn wall down. He caught his bearings, standing in front of the stone circle, breathing raggedly and with blood dripping down his arms and fisted hands to the ground. He had a number of injuries but he was very close from the end. He fished the ball from his pocket, half-walking, half-stumbling towards the centre of the circle. He carefully walked over the weird structure and fell to his knees by the central hollow. He extended his bloodied hand and let the green jade ball fall from it, red droplets falling alongside it.

The stone fell and settled into the central groove. A white mist raised from around it, seeming to make the green become even lighter. The hollowed space of the central groove filled with a pearly-white substance what spread out on the carved grooves, heading towards the circles that surrounded the central area, the inner circle.

The ten stones on that circle, five white ones and five black ones, were as if painted with a thin layer of white mist, the black stones becoming light grey.

Light spread out through the whole room and Natsu let out a sigh of relief.

Somewhere from above he could hear a clear joyous laughter.

And after that came a very familiar voice.

"Natsu!" Happy 's voice echoed from a distance, happily.

And that was when everything became black.

* * *

Natsu found himself rousing towards consciousness, feeling content, warm and comfortable.

He was lying in a bed and had his limbs twined with another person, cuddling and being cuddled back.

He suddenly noticed that it was just like any of the other mornings and sat up in a jump, throwing Gray's limbs off him without regard for the other's slumber.

"I can't believe it! Another repeat?" He said in a disbelieving voice, eyes opening widely and focusing on Gray when the ice mage curled a hand around his arm.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Came the roughened voice.

"It's still the same…" Natsu started but he then looked at the foot of the bed and down at himself.

There was Happy sleeping peacefully!

And Natsu had a bunch of bandages curling around his chest and arms.

"What the-?" he said dumbly.

"I think that whatever it was, it is over now. Come on. Let's sleep some more." Gray curled a hand around Natsu's waist and gave a small tug.

Natsu almost couldn't believe it but he saw Happy sleeping peacefully, curled upon himself and mumbling something about fish.

Natsu let out a relieved sigh. And let himself be tugged downwards again.

Before long, he was fast asleep. Getting his first real rest in a long time. And surrounded by his loved ones.

* * *

(1) You can read the full thing on my AO3

 **A/N:** Here we are, folks! At the end of this story. It's been quite a ride, no?

It took me a while longer than I expected but this chapter was difficult for me to write. I don't know why. I hope it wasn't too much of a disappointment, though... :/

Anyway, I have an announcement and part rant to make.

I'm going on a posting hiatus. I know, I know, nobody cares about what I write and if I post or not. I know my stories are that crappy but yeah, I think I'm kind of reaching a certain limit, you know?

It's been six years (almost) since I entered this fandom and while I did get a little feedback at the beginning and, true, I'm not the most regular of writers (sadly I don't update as much as I would like for this reason), I would like some feedback. My feeling for a good part of being in this fandom has been writing and being met with a wall of silence. I do know that I'm not entitled to have comments but that they help, they do. Do people even like what they read? What do they dislike? It's just that. So I'll just go and not post. Unless I'm in a good mood, lol. Or this funk "lifts". I guess I'm in a bad place right now. *shrugs*

Either way, I know I won't be missed.

Anyways, apologies for the errors and stuff, this wasn't betaed.

Thanks for reading and as per usual, feedback would be nice.

See you sometime.


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